The Return From Salmon Fishing

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature when we started fishing was in the middle 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was out of the north 10 to 14 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 75 Degrees. We were taking the boat back to Toledo Beach Marina after our return from salmon fishing in Manistee, Mi. The boat had been sitting in my driveway for 5 days while I did some minor work on it and it was time to take it back to the marina. I heard a report that they were catching some walleye by the E Buoy so I figured we would try walleye fishing one last time. We set up just short of the E Buoy trolling wiggle warts set at 90 feet back and junior thunder sticks set at 70 feet back. We were marking some fish close to the bottom but we had no takers. After trolling around for a little bit we noticed that there were some weeds on the lures. Started pulling lines and all the poles had weeds on them. It was still early so we made the move towards Sputnik. Set up trolling wiggle warts set at 120 feet back. Again, we were marking fish but now they were too deep for the wiggle warts. Fished here for just a little while and we called it quits. We did not catch a fish today. Packed up all the walleye gear and now we are set up for perch fishing.

Salmon Fishing in Manistee, Michigan 2015

Fished with Joe and John. We left Saturday morning and picked up the boat in Hart, MI,  where we left it after we were done fishing in Pentwater. This year will be remembered because of the very strong winds we had on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday morning. Of all the years of salmon fishing this was our worst for weather. We were able to fish 8 of the possible 13 trips and one of those was cut short and another was in four foot seas. We were never skunked on any trip but we never caught more than 3 fish on any trip. Our largest salmon was 18 lbs, and our smallest was 14 lbs. One day we would get all our bites on meat rigs and the next day all the bites would be on J plugs. Very hard to figure out. The last couple of years it seems that you have one good day to catch a lot of fish and this year it was Tuesday morning. Boats were netting fish all around us but we came back with only one salmon. We switched lures, changed the depth on the baits and changed the speed we were trolling, but nothing worked. We kept 12 salmon for the entire trip and caught one lake trout that we put back.

Fishing at Pentwater

Fished with Joe and Daryl out of the Port of Pentwater. We headed up Sunday morning and came home on Wednesday. We docked the boat at the Municipal Marina and we stayed at the Pine Motel (not recommended ).Tuesday was the only bad day we had for fishing. We quit fishing at 7:30 in the morning and we did not make it out for the evening fish because of the small craft warnings. We fished one evening in front of the harbor because of the wind and waves. The rest of the trip we were fishing south of the harbor in front of the Silver Lake Sand Dunes, about a 10 mile boat ride. The majority of the fishing was in waters 90 to 150 feet deep, fishing anywhere from 40 to 90 feet down with the bait. Cut bait rigs caught most of the fish and one fish came off the Scar Pace lure. We had a couple of nice fish on that we lost. One straightened the split ring that is on the snap swivel and the other one straightened the clip on the snap swivel. We kept 6 king salmon and 5 steelhead and put back two lake trout. The largest king was about 14 pounds and the largest steelhead was just over 13 pounds. It was nice fishing out of Pentwater but it's always hard fishing a new port for the first time.

The Wind Was Blowing Pretty Good

 Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80's. The wind was out of the west northwest 15 to 20 knots when we started fishing.  About 9:00 am it laid down to 8 to 12 knots. Around 10:30 am it started to blow again 14 to 18 knots. The waves were anywhere from 2 feet to about a foot but the wind made for tough fishing. The water temp is 76 Degrees. Started fishing just short of the S-Buoy trolling wiggle warts set at 75 feet back and large dipsy's and spoons set at 30 feet back. We were on the fish right out of the gate but the crew was not ready. We lost 3 of the first 4 walleye we had on. Not a good start for a windy day. We trolled mostly between the S-Buoy and the C-Buoy. We caught more junk fish today than we have in the last two weeks and we even caught some white perch. The catching was good up until 10:30 am, after that, we could not catch a keeper walleye. We spent at least 1 1/2 hours trying to catch the last couple of walleye but it was not going to happen. Kept 16 walleye and 2 perch.

Had to Work for Them

Fished with Captain Daryl, Mark and Joe. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was out of the northeast 7 to 13 knots with waves less than 2 feet. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing right in front of the harbor in 14 feet of water trolling wiggle warts set at 35 feet behind the boards. Caught a couple of walleye but we also caught a lot of junk fish so we started trolling towards deeper water. Ended up by the S-Buoy trolling with wiggle warts set at 65 feet back on one side of the boat and 75 feet back on the other side of the boat. Eventually both sides were set to 75 feet back. We also ran a couple of large dipsy's set at 30 and 35 feet back and they caught a few walleye. Had a lot of tangles today, don't know if it was the wind or the waves or something else. Kept 24 walleye and we lost quite a few walleye behind the boat.

Quick Trip Today

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70's. The wind was out of the northwest less than 8 knots with a little chop on the lake. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing in the same location with the same program and the walleye are still there. We were on and off the lake very quick today. Kept 12 walleye on an easy day of fishing.

Tried For a Combo Today

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was light and variable with no waves. The water temp is 74 degrees. Don't know why but we had no flies and no gnats today. Started perch fishing by the W-Buoy and we picked up a couple of small ones so after 45 minutes of perch fishing we went walleye fishing. We set up by the S Buoy trolling towards the C-Buoy (41 48 250 / 083 21 500) in 16 feet of water with wiggle warts set at 75 feet behind the boards. We were on the fish right out of the gate and the catching never slowed down. We decided to put back the small keeper fish (15 to 16 inches) and only keep the good size eaters. It did not take long and we were back to perch fishing. Tried perch fishing by the C-Buoy and we only caught one small perch. Moved to an old way point from two years ago in the dumping grounds and we only caught small perch. Made one more move back to the W-Buoy and we only caught a couple of small perch so we called it a day. We cleaned up the fish and went to Trapper's for a walleye/perch lunch and it was awesome. Kept 12 walleye and 7 small perch. Decided that doing a perch/walleye combo is just too much, so it might not happen again.

Still Good Walleye Fishing

Fished with Joe. Temperature when we started fishing was in the middle 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70's. The wind was out of the north 5 to 10 knots with waves about a foot.The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing 1 1/2 miles northeast of the E-Buoy trolling towards the E-Buoy in 18 feet of water with wiggle warts set at 75 feet back on both sides of the boat. The catching started out slow but then it picked up. We made one long pass and we caught our 12 walleye. Caught only a couple of junk fish. This was one of the quickest walleye trips that we have had in a long time.

Walleye Fishing at It's Best

Fished with Joe, Rick and Walleye Willy. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70's. The wind was switching between north and north east any where between 7 and 15 knots. Waves were between 1 and 2 feet. The water temp is 73 degrees. Started fishing 1 1/2 miles northeast of the E-Buoy in 18 feet of water trolling towards the E-Buoy with wiggle warts set at 75 feet back on both sides of the boat and large dipsy's and spoons set at 24 feet back. Started catching walleye right out of the gate and it never slowed down. Made 3 passes and we were done fishing for the day. It did not matter what color lure we used because every lure caught fish. Kept 24 walleye and we had some happy fishermen on the boat. Only bad thing was we lost 3 wiggle warts.

Weather Was Perfect

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was out of the southwest around 7 knots. Just enough breeze to keep the bugs away and make for a nice walleye chop. The water temp is 72 degrees. Started fishing in the same location as the last couple of trips trolling with wiggle warts set at 80 and 85 feet behind the boards. We found a small pod of fish(41 49 820 / 083 18 125) that we kept working. We caught most of the fish on a south troll. The majority of the walleye were between 15 and 16 inches, easy to clean and nice eaters. Had the usual small walleye and we also had a couple of walleye that were just under 15 inches that we put back. Kept 18 walleye and again we caught very few junk fish.

Spur of the Moment Trip

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Sitting at my Mom's house around 10:30 AM and decided to go fishing. Made a few phone calls and had a crew together. The temp when we started fishing was in the lower 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70's. The wind was out of the East 8 to 14 knots with waves less than 2 feet. Started fishing at the northeast side of the dumping grounds trolling with wiggle warts set at 83 feet on one side of the boat and 75 feet on the other side of the boat. Started catching some walleye off the 83 foot set up so we switched the other side to 90 feet back. Caught most of our fish on a 140 degree troll. When we turned around and headed back over our fishing spot we would not catch a fish. Ended up catching most of the fish on the east side of the dumping grounds on a south east troll. Kept 18 walleye and again, we had a lot of the small nine inch walleye that we put back. The trip did not start out too well. Went to put the trolling motor in gear and it would not go. Figured out the shift cable broke. Put the trolling motor in gear manually and away we went. Lost two of the first three walleye right behind the boat but things only got better from there.

The Algae Bloom Has Started

Fished with Daryl. We thought we would go out for a quick trip. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70's. The wind was out of the southeast 8 to 14 knots with waves about 1 1/2 feet before the storm. Started fishing in the same location as the last trip trolling with mini disks and spoons set at 60 feet back on one side of the boat and wiggle warts set at 70 feet back on the other side of the boat.Started picking away at the walleye fishing by the mud line but once we got too far away from the mud line the bite shut down. By the time we got turned around and back on the fish, the sky was looking pretty ugly off shore. The wind switched to the southwest 20 to 25 knots and the sky was dark so we pulled lines and headed for port. We missed all the rain and made it back to shore nice and dry. The dark clouds blew over and the rain never did show up but the winds were blowing pretty strong. Kept 10 walleye and put back a lot of little walleye. Not sure what is going on, but we have been catching very few white perch and very few silver bass the last couple of weeks. One thought is that there are so many small walleye that they might have pushed the garbage fish out of the area.

Day Two

Fished with Joe and Dan. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was very light out of the south with no waves. We had the gnats again today but the wind picked up just enough around 9:00 AM to blow them away. Started fishing in the same spot as yesterday with jet 40's and spoons set at 55 feet behind the boards and mini disk and spoons set at 75 feet back. Before we had the lines set we had two walleye in the boat, everyone thought it was going to be a banner day. Well, the catching just quit and we would catch a walleye every once in a while. Started changing lead lengths and putting on wiggle warts set at 85 feet back but nothing seemed to help. We shortened up the lead length on the mini dipsy to 60 feet and that seemed to help so we switched both sides to mini disk. Started to get a slow and steady pick of walleye but at least we were catching some. Kept 18 walleye and had at least a dozen walleye at nine inches that we put back. Also caught some monster sheep head.

Fishing In Close Again

Fished with Captain Daryl and Chris. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. There was no wind this morning and we had lot's of gnats. Around 10:30 the wind started to blow very light out of the east, just enough to blow the gnats away. The water temp is 69 Degrees. Started trolling by the E-Buoy and going through the dumping grounds with jet 40's set at 50 and 60 feet behind the boards. Started to catch a few fish off the 50 foot set up, so we put that on both sides of the boat.When things slowed down we put a couple of wiggle warts out set at 85 feet back and that caught one walleye. There were some weeds in the area but we only had to clean the lines a couple of times. Ended up fishing the Northeast side of the dumping grounds (41 48 125 / 083 19 850) where the water was stained. Kept 15 walleye and we lost a couple right behind the boat. Caught 7 nine-inch walleye that we put back.

Fishing After the Big Storm

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70's. The wind was out of the west 10 to 15 knots with waves about a foot. The water temp is 67 Degrees. After the storms we knew the water was going to be dirty so we took some night crawlers with us. Started fishing just past the E-Buoy trolling with the crawlers set anywhere between 40 and 60 feet behind the boards. There were a few weeds floating and the water was stained, but clean enough to fish in. Trolled on an east pass and we only caught one silver bass and had another fish on that we lost. Pulled lines and headed toward McDonald's but the closer we got to McDonald's the worse the water conditions were. A lot of debris floating and also some large logs. Made the turn and headed to Brest Bay. The water was pretty clean and there were not very many weeds floating so we set up with jet 40's and spoons set at 60 to 70 feet back and mini dipsy's and spoons set at 80 feet back. We were marking fish but not hooking up so we started to change the lead lengths. Finally caught a walleye off the dipsy set up and then nothing again. Started trolling towards shore (41 54 670 / 083 17 540) and we started marking more fish. Caught a lot of sheep head and a few silver bass and one more walleye. Only kept two walleye. We had to dodge a few large logs floating in the water which made for an interesting ride. The storm really tore up the lake.

Deja Vu

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60's. In the morning the wind was out of the east northeast around 10 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet and by the time we quit fishing the wind was out of the east northeast 15 to 20 knots with waves 3 to 5 feet. The water temp is 62 Degrees. Started fishing in front of Brest Bay (41 54 250 / 083 13 500) trolling jet 40's and spoons set at 60 and 65 feet behind the boards. Had the first walleye on pretty quick but we lost it behind the boat and everything went down hill from there. Started trolling with the waves and then we found the floating weeds. Messed around this area for a little while and then we pulled lines and headed towards Sputnik. Well, the lake was too rough to travel that far so we stopped short and started trolling towards McDonald's. We were out of the weeds, but with the waves we were not going to make McDonald's so we headed towards the Michigan/Ohio border. Once we got to walleye alley we started to mark some fish. We picked up a couple of walleye and had two 14 inch walleye throw backs and two nine inch walleye that we put back. By this time we were close to the harbor so we pulled lines and called it a day. Kept two walleye for another long day of fishing.

Weeds, Mayfly Casings and Biting Flies

Fished with Joe and Norm. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was out of the south less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 68 Degrees. On the way out to the fishing spot we stopped short and set a few lines just this side of McDonald's. Marked a few fish but we only caught 1 silver bass so we pulled lines and headed further out into the lake. We set up at 41 47 450 / 083 12 100 with jet 40's and spoons set at 75 feet back on one side of the boat and large mini disks and spoons set at 85 feet back. We had three types of water that we were fishing in. Very clean water (with a lot of weeds), stained water (with a few weeds and a lot of mayfly casings), and very dirty water. We marked a lot of fish in the dirty water but could not catch them. The objective was to fish on the mud line but that was hard to do. The lake went from clean water to dirty water in a very short area. Once you got into the weeds, you had to pull all the lines and clean the weeds off them. A major pain in the butt because we had to do this about four times. Once the wind laid down, the biting flies came out, another pain in the butt. This area is holding fish but it is just too hard to fish for them. Kept nine walleye and we put back two that were 14 1/2 inches and about 7 little walleye that were about nine inches.

Oh What a Day!

Fished with Captain Daryl, Jake and Jim. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60's. Kind of cool for this time of year. The wind was out of the east northeast 10 to 15 knots with waves 2 to 4 feet with the occasional 5 footer. Plus, we had rain for the first couple of hours. The water temp is 65 Degrees. Started fishing the other side of McDonald's (41 47 300 / 083 13 600) trolling into the waves. We ran jet 40's and spoons 65 feet back on one side of the boat and 75 feet back on the other side of the boat. Picked up a couple of walleye off the 75 feet setup so we switched both sides to 75 feet back. We also ran two large dipsy's set at 40 feet back off the stern and they caught a couple of walleye.  It was tough fishing and very tough just trying to stand up in the boat. We had our fair share of tangles and that will always happen when the lake is that bumpy. Kept 13 walleye and both Jake and Jim were troopers today. No complaining and they said they had fun. There is still a lot of debris floating in the water which makes for an interesting ride to the fishing grounds.

Major Mess Today

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was out of the northwest less than 10 knots with waves a foot or less. The water temp is 69 Degrees. The mayfly hatch is in full bloom and the casings are floating all over the lake. Started fishing in Brest Bay at 41 53 280 / 083 15 150 trolling jet 40's and spoons set at 70 feet behind the boards and large mini disks and spoons set at 60 feet behind the boards. Caught the first couple of walleye pretty quick, we only had four lines in the water. Kept on trolling with this set up and I went down to the cuddy to get my shorts and the next thing I know there is a boat trolling right in front of us. We tangled planer board lines so I stopped the motor and the next thing I know all the fishing lines were in front of the boat and the planer board line was wrapped around the prop. The line was wrapped around the prop so bad the motor stopped running. We spent a lot of time just trying to straighten everything out and then we had to retie all the fishing lines and one planer board line. Lost a good 1 1/2 hours of fishing time. The good news is no equipment was lost, hard to believe. Once we got everything in order we just stayed put and picked away at the walleye. Kept 10 walleye and only had one walleye that was under size. Caught a few sheep head and about a dozen silver bass that we put back.

Fishing With the Family

Fished with Dan, Sherrill and John. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70's. The wind was out of the southwest between 10 and 15 knots when we started fishing and around 11:00 am it started to lay down. The waves were about 2 feet in the morning and when the wind laid down so did the waves. The water temp is 67 Degrees. When I woke up it was raining and on the ride down to the boat it was just hogging dow rain. About 20 miles before we arrived at the marina the rain quit. We had a little sprinkle early in the morning when we were fishing and then a very light sprinkle on the boat ride back to the marina. On the car ride back home it just started to hog down again. The trip was perfect as far as the weather went. When we got back home most of the roads were flooded. How we squeezed this trip in, I don't know. The mayfly hatch is in full bloom and the casings are starting to build up on the fishing line when we were trolling. Started fishing just the other side of McDonald's trolling with mini disk set at 100 feet back and large mini disk set at 80 feet back. Started to catch some fish off the large dipsy's so we took off the small mini dipsy's and put out jet 40's and spoons set at 70 feet. We were catching fish, but not enough keeper walleye. We stayed in this area and picked through the junk fish hoping to get our limit, which did not happen. Kept 15 walleye and put back 4 walleye that were 14 inches and about a dozen walleye that were nine inches. We also caught about three dozen silver bass that we put back!